Feinstein draws primary challenge from Democrat de León

LOS ANGELES – Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) will face a primary challenge from California state Senate leader Kevin de León, who cast himself on Sunday as a progressive champion of California’s resistance to President Donald Trump.

Launching his campaign, de León said in an email to supporters that he will “take the fight to Trump from California to Washington DC,” doing his part “to work even harder to reunite this nation with a progressive agenda.”

Story Continued Below

The announcement, which had long been expected, comes less than a week after Feinstein announced her re-election bid.

De León did not mention Feinstein in his public campaign roll-out. In a subsequent interview with POLITICO, he avoided criticizing Feinstein by name. "California needs a senator who will stand up and fight for Medicare for All, one that prioritizes the fight against climate change, that will protect Dreamers and our economic prosperity," he said.

He said he was a “bundle of nerves” and that the announcement was “just like jumping off a cliff.”

“It will be David and Goliath...I’m under no illusion,” he said.

De León, a Los Angeles lawmaker, faces an uphill climb in his effort to unseat Feinstein. First elected to the Senate in a 1992 special election, Feinstein has long served as a pillar of California’s Democratic Party and has connections that could make fundraising difficult for de León. The state’s junior senator, Kamala Harris, endorsed Feinstein immediately after she announced her re-election campaign, as did former Sen. Barbara Boxer and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Democratic frontrunner to succeed Jerry Brown as governor.

Still, Feinstein’s more centrist politics could present an opening for de León, who will run against her from the left. Feinstein, 84, has come under criticism from progressive activists for her skeptical view of single-payer health care legislation and her support for some of Trump’s earliest nominees.

De León this year championed a failed universal health care measure and a successful bill granting additional protections to undocumented immigrants. De León cheered Feinstein’s critics earlier this year when, seizing on Feinstein’s remark that Trump could become a “good president,” he said Democrats should “not be complicit in his reckless behavior.”

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Yet Feinstein’s public approval ratings, though slipping slightly since Trump’s inauguration, remain relatively favorable in California. And de León is little known statewide. When the Berkeley-IGS Poll asked Californians in April who they would support for U.S. Senate if Feinstein opted not to run, De León polled at 3 percent.

De León, who will soon have to leave the state Senate due to term limits, had few options for advancement. The 50-year-old had considered entering California’s race for governor, but the field is already crowded with Democrats.

It remains unclear if de León will be the only high-profile Democrat challenging Feinstein. Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer is mulling a run, and Joseph Sanberg, a wealthy Orange County progressive activist, is considered another potential candidate. Some long-shot candidates are already in the race, including a progressive lawyer, Pat Harris.

Under California’s primary rules, the top two finishers in next year’s primary will advance to a November runoff regardless of party affiliation.